A new day, a new class.

Today I'm going full force with my Greek cooking ! I'm teaching a 2-day Greek workshop in Houston and it's all sold out! In fact, all my Greek cooking classes have sold out. It seems like Greek food is popular in ever city around Texas. I guess there's not a lot of people in Texas that make good, authentic Greek food. In fact, I think my husband should take me to Greece every year just to fine tune my skills. When we have kids, I can't wait to have them go to Greek school and speak Foti's language. I think it's beautiful. Tagalog may have to wait since I understand way more than I speak.

Since I'm busy preparing, I thought I'd post a funny scene from MY BIG, FAT GREEK WEDDING. For those of you who haven't seen it, you must! And for those of you who don't have any close, Greek friends. This is pretty accurate! Only my father in law, Vasilios is much funnier.

OPA!

Who the heck is Kathy? Thanks, er anyway?!

I was surfing the net. I'm trying to decide on what type of photography best suits my food for my book, that's been pending for what seems like an eternity. I found this photo and a recipe along with it. Although I've never made this, I'm willing to vouch for it based on the picture alone. It looks so rustic and homemade. And if my grandma actually cooked, this is what I'd imagine her making for me. DO you guys think it looks good? I know you people are reading, but don't know who you people are! Why is everyone scared to comment on food? It won't bite. Promise. Anybody out there?

Kathy’s Orange Coffee Cake

1 package yeast
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup warm water
½ cup melted butter - Divided
1 cup sugar
2 ¾ - 3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup toasted coconut
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons orange rind (From fresh orange or dried)

Toast coconut by baking it at 350º for 7-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on it, it can burn quickly.
Combine yeast and water, set aside. Blend ¼ C. sugar, salt, eggs, sour cream and 6 TBS melted butter. Add yeast mixture. Add flour (I use 2 ¾ C) to form stiff dough. Dough will be sticky. Let rise in greased covered bowl in a warm place for at least 2 hours.

Combine ¾ C. sugar, ¾ C. coconut and orange rind and set aside. Roll our half of the dough on a floured board into a 12” circle. Brush with 1 TBS melted butter. Sprinkle with half of the sugar/coconut mixture. Cut into 12 wedges. Roll, starting with wide end, rolling to point. Place rolls, point side down, in ½ of a greased 9”x13” pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise till size doubles, at least 1 hour. Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes. (Bake 20 minutes in convection oven.) Cover with glaze and remaining coconut while still warm, but not hot.

For the Glaze

In saucepan combine:
¼ cup butter
½ cup sour cream
2 Tablespoon orange juice (You can use juice from the fresh orange you bought.)
¾ cup sugar

Boil for 3 minutes.

What's for dinner tonight?

I haven't made this dish in literally years. It's an oldie, but goodie. It was a little chilly out and I just felt like making some good old fashioned, beef stew. I hate* the ones in cans. I think hate is a strong word, but it definitely describes how I feel about canned beef stew. Besides being easy, it's a nice throwback recipe. If you want to know why I hate canned beef stew so much, try this for me. Open a can of Alpo(beef kind) and beef stew. After opening them, close your eyes and I dare you to tell them apart. You can't. DISGUSTING.

I'm finding when I get inspired to make something, I should do it straight away. Id not, it fades. My food tastes better when I'm inspired to make it. Not unlike most things in life. If this inspires you, get on it! Someone will love you for it.

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 2 inch cubes
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
3 cups beef broth
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
1 tsp of dry oregano
4 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 green bell pepper-large dice
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium yellow onion- roughly chopped

***1-2 tablespoons of oil for browning meat

In a large pot, over medium-high heat, add olive oil and then brown the stew meat.(don't forget to season with salt and pepper)

Then add all vegetables, except potatoes. Saute for a couple minutes. Then add flour.

*At this stage, add the rest of the ingredients to the pot.

Cover and cook over medium heat for 2-3 hours. Just until meat and vegetables are tender.

Serve with hot rice or with a crusty piece of bread!

I love to have this with :Inheritance, Syrah!!! It's an amazing pairing! Bon Appetit foodies

Making happy hour, even happier.

I just had to post THE BEST HAPPY HOUR MENU I've seen in a really long time!

$1.95

Classic Cheeseburger
with Fries

Hummus
Cucumbers and Grilled Pita

Shrimp Ceviche
In Citrus Marinade

Blackened Chicken Sandwich
Cheddar Cheese and French Fries

Tomato Bruschetta
Balsamic Glaze and Basil

$3.95

Fried Cod Sandwich
Cheddar, Cole Slaw and Fries

Ahi Tuna Roll
Shoyu Dipping Sauce

Salmon Cakes
Lemon Butter, Apples and Leeks

Calamari
Trio of Dipping Sauces

Potato Skins
Cheddar, Sour Cream and Crispy Bacon
$4.95

Jambalaya
Cajun Red Hot Sausage and Rice

Fish Tacos
Salsa Fresca and Sour Cream

Kobe Beef Sliders
Cheddar and Caramelized Onions

Fried Shrimp
Cocktail Sauce and French Fries

Chicken & Sausage Etouffe
Simmered in Nut Brown Sauce with Rice

Peel 'n Eat Shrimp
Butter & Old Bay

Am I the only one who finds this sexy?

Gordon Ramsay can do no wrong in my book. I wasn't a fan of him on Hell's Kitchen, but fell in love with him on the F word and Kitchen Nightmares on the BBC. Everything he does is brilliant. He's brutally honest, driven , passionate and educated on where all his food comes from. He's almost as sexy as his cooking. Get a taste of what I love about him. He makes things look deceptively simple. It's all technique. It's like watching Bob Ross paint an entire forest on PBS in 15 minutes and telling you how easy it is to do at home. AMAZING in the true sense of the word.

Just for Anne-Clark. Cheese Sandwich Heaven.

When I was younger, I would come up with all these little things to eat that were usually different that what everyone else was eating. Having a Mom from the Philippines that cooked almost every night was definitely a strong influence too. I remember introducing quite a few of my sweet, suburban friends to some pretty unique and sometimes off-the-wall dishes. One of my less adventurous snacks was my infamous cheese sandwich. Why's it infamous? It's infamous because my childhood friend, Anne-Clark reminded me on how I used to make these for her when we were little. Too funny! It was the only way I would eat anything with mustard on it. I remember the mustard bringing out the naturally pungent flavor of the cheese. Now I couldn't articulate it quite like that, but I remember my thought process. It just brought out a little sweetness to the bread and cheese too. At any rate, little did I know there was such a thing as a Limburger sandwich on rye with onion! Mine was much more basic. However, all these years later. I think my little sandwich still stands the test of time. In fact, nowadays with the abundant selection of mustards, cheeses and bread this sandwich can be made literally hundreds of ways. Maybe even thousands!

Anyway, this one's for you Anne-Clark. If you read this, YOU MUST COMMENT! Food memories can be so powerful. A dish can put you in a time machine and just take you back. Food is more powerful than photographs in my humble opinion. You have the sight, smell, touch and taste all working together in a powerful force. Hope this brought back some fond memories !

Limburger Sandwich
2 slices rye bread (dark, light or pumpernickel)
Brown mustard(of your choice)
Limburger cheese, sliced
thin slices of sweet onion
-Kosher pickle on the side

To assemble sandwich, spread mustard on rye bread slices; layer with limburger cheese and sweet onion slices.

Serve with your favorite beer!


p.s. Here's pic of Anne-Clark with her date in high school...

"WHAT'S MY IDEAL WEIGHT?"

SOURCE:HEALTHY LVING
AUTHOR: KARLY RANDOLPH PITMAN

If you're trying to lose weight, you probably have a goal, your ideal weight, in mind. A good question to ask yourself is, "Where did I get this number?"
Is it what you weighed in high school? Is it what health experts suggest you should weigh, based on your age, body frame and body type?

While weight loss is an admirable goal for a woman who is truly overweight, many women who want to lose weight don't need to. In study after study, researchers have found that the majority of normal weight women think they need to lose 10 or 15 pounds: what I call vanity pounds.

Why is this a problem?

If our happy weight is based on unrealistic expectations, it will cause us much pain and suffering. We'll exhaust ourselves, trying to achieve the impossible. We'll live in fear: when we've lost weight, we're fearful of gaining it back; when we've gained a few pounds, we're fearful that the scale will keep rising. We may delve into all sorts of whacked out behaviors: crash dieting, food obsession, fasting, and overexercising in our desire to reach our goal.

Unrealistic expectations can create an unhealthy focus on our appearance. You can only be 10 pounds underweight if you're working very, very hard: by exercising for hours a day and being very stringent about what you eat. These behaviors can easily morph into an eating disorder.

The flip side, accepting a realistic happy weight, may mean giving up our wishful thinking of being a size 2. This can be painful; I know. But the rewards of letting go of our impossible expectations are many: vitality, feeling satisfied by the variety and amount of food we eat, energy, stable moods, confidence and a healthy appreciation for our appearance instead of obsession. It's also a sure way to temper the jealousy you may feel about other pretty women.

How can you find a weight that is realistic for your body? Here are 5 tips:

1. Look at the unique factors of your body. Self magazine has a calculator to determine your happy weight which takes into account your age, exercise habits, and if you've had children. You can also factor in your eating and self-care habits: Do you have ways of comforting yourself without turning to food? If not, accept that this may mean weighing a bit more than you'd like until you have stronger nurturing skills. As you learn how to care for yourself, your weight may go down. But accept where you are right now. Then, as Maya Angelou says, as you know better, you do better. And then you can adjust your goal. Having realistic expectations is about looking at what is - not what you'd like to be - and using that information to shape and mold a positive, yet honest expectation for change.
2. Aim for a healthy body fat percentage. One of the best ways to compute a realistic happy weight is by basing it on a healthy body fat percentage. Start by figuring out your current body fat percentage. Then, you can use this number to figure out how much of your weight is comprised of core, lean mass: your organs, muscles, water, and tissues, and how much of your weight is fat. It can also tell you if your body fat percentage is in a healthy range. So, if you want 22% body fat, which is considered a healthy body fat percentage for a woman, you can see whether you need to lose a few pounds, or if your body is healthy just as it is. With hard data, and real numbers, you can see if your expectations are realistic.
3. Look at media images of women with a critical eye. Look at window mannequins in most women's clothing stores, and you'll see a woman whose body fat would make her underweight. Likewise, the "ideal body" that is touted in the movie industry, fashion industry and media is also underweight. This skews our perception, where, as Stanley Tucci's character in The Devil Wears Prada famously quippped, a size 2 is the new 6; a size 6, the new size 14. Separate yourself from these images by recognizing them for what they are: unrealistic. This doesn't mean turning into the body image police. When I see celebrities who look clearly underweight, I bypass judgment. But I do feel compassion for them -- think of the enormous pressure they must feel to always look their best. I know I wouldn't want to live with that kind of scrutiny on my appearance.
4. Give yourself enough time to lose weight. If you are wanting to lose weight, one of the best ways you can support yourself is by giving yourself time to accomplish your goal. You didn't gain weight overnight; you won't lose it overnight, either. If you're holding onto an unrealistic expectation about how quickly you can lose weight, you'll either be discouraged and frustrated because it's taking longer than you think it "should," or you'll delve into drastic measures to lose the weight faster, such as starving yourself, purging, or overexercising. This is being kind to yourself, allowing time for changes to manifest. It's nature's way - growth and change take time.
5. Recognize that your happy weight will change over time. Health is dynamic, not static. Our bodies are always changing, and life is always in flux. The media focus on Jessica Simpson was ridiculous because it denied this basic truth. It is normal for our weight to go up and down, particularly as women. One year you have a baby; another year, you have major surgery and have limited exercise capabilities; another year, you're under tremendous stress and gain weight. All of these things can effect what a realistic weight is for your body at this moment in time. Accepting that your ideal weight may be higher than you'd like - for now - doesn't mean that this will always be the case. Accept the ebb and flow; the highs and the lows, and learn to love a weight range for your body, not just one ideal weight.

We are so much more than a number, but as women in an appearance-conscious society, it is very, very eased to get hooked by the promise of an ideal body. It's easy to believe that it will solve all our pain - our confidence, our needs, our desire for intimacy, acceptance, and belonging.

These needs are valid and important. But the problem is when we use our bodies to feel these needs, instead of our innate worthiness, our beingness. It creates too much pressure, too much focus on one area of our lives. It keeps us from enjoying the present moment, trapped in a place where we are never satisfied; always striving to improve. It keeps us from appreciating what our bodies can do, how we live in them and enjoy their many gifts.

It's a gift to live in a female body. Our beauty should be cherished and appreciated; our sexuality, enjoyed; our strength, celebrated. Yes. While we are not our bodies, we do live in them --- and when we love and care for them, we send a message of love and care for our entire selves.

So, yes, love and care for your body as a loving caretaker, even as a mother lovingly cares for her children. Exercise. Move, sweat, dance, run play. Rest when you're tired. Eat when you're hungry. Feed it whole foods that nourish your particular body (because no one diet is right for everyone.) Breathe. Dream. Release your hurts.

But do so with detachment. Do it out of love, not out of hatred, fear, jealousy or disgust --- I am such a fat cow! ... I am going to run 5 miles because I ate that pizza last night.... I am so sick of being fat ... I hate that skinny b***ch. Love your body with acceptance, embracing every stage and weight of your body, recognizing that your real worth has nothing to do with a number on a scale.